For about the
first 15 minutes of Jennifer Lopez: Dance
Again, I was convinced that this was going to be one of those documentaries
that made me a fan out of the subject through thoughtful consideration and
compelling footage. I even found myself getting choked up over the
inspirational build-up to the first performance of her first world tour, but
quickly after that it became obvious that this is a glorified piece of
marketing, a vanity piece made for fans of Lopez alone. I went from loving to
hating this film in record time.

There is a rich
tradition for drama and comedy in the world of low budget independent
filmmaking; all you really need is a script, some actors, and a camera. Films
have been shot entirely on cell phones with this simple formula. Even genre
films have their place among independents, with many horror films made with a
little innovation and creativity. But action films are another beast entirely,
and it takes a sturdy set of stones to tackle the expected spectacle of the
genre. Timothy Woodward Jr. has established himself as one of the few
filmmakers bold enough to embrace this challenge, filming the ambitious
narrative of Decommissioned for a
cool million, with mixed results.

I’m going to say
some unpopular things about the gender pay gap. Typically, this is a
straightforward issue. Dealing with wage inequality in the average workplace,
women with the same job and experience as men should get paid the same. It is
fairly simple concept (and one that I wholeheartedly support, to be clear), but
this same idea is much more complex in Hollywood,
where fame is a commodity.

While it may do
little to sway disbelievers into becoming fans of improv shows, a medium that
has long been viewed as the only step below stand-up comedy in the list of
shows that friends of entertainers dread attending out of mere obligation and
support, Don’t Think Twice is so
profoundly insightful in its discussion of larger issues that it ultimately
doesn’t matter what the art form is. This may sound somewhat crass considering
the weeks that the cast spent rehearsing and performing real improv shows,
which were filmed for inclusion in the final edit, but it is the way that
success effects their group dynamic which is well-thought out and insightful.
The improv, despite being edited down to presumably show the funniest of the
real material, lacks the kind of laughs to counter the spot-on criticism of
planned sketch comedy on shows like Saturday Night Live.

Easily one of
the strangest horror movies ever made, Phantasm
has a little bit of everything crammed into one movie. The 1979 cult classic is
a rare sci-fi horror film made on a low budget. There are moments of gore (primarily
involving the sphere weapon), a dark sense of humor, erratic and purposefully
disorienting editing, and even a bit of unexpected realism (a victim urinating
during his death scene is still shocking today). This movie is far from a
masterpiece, but there are undeniable moments of genius in here, and this
remastered version presents them in startling clarity.

The character of
Henry is based loosely on the real-life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas,
including many of the facts about the killer’s life in the movie. There are
some changes, but the relationship that the serial killer has with an ex-con
friend was borrowed from reality. The murders in the film, however, were taken
from the countless lies that Lucas told once in prison. He confessed to crimes
that he hadn’t committed once he had already been sentenced. The element of
truth is part of what makes Henry:
Portrait of a Serial Killer so disturbing, much like In Cold Blood. The fabricated murders simply add to the myth of the
man.